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How to Create a Scanned Digital Signature

By Mark Shead 106 Comments
If you like this article you might also enjoy our post about how to use your signature to sign documents in
Acrobat. We also have a number of other articles about going paperless and one on Digital Signatures and
Encryption that might be useful.
If you want to create a scanned electronic version of your signature, there are several ways to do it. The
right way would be to send your signature to a company that will create a truetype font of your entire
signature so you can print it at any size and still have the beautiful vector drawn lines.
The easy way to do it is to scan in your signature and remove the background. If you make it large enough
and scan at a high enough resolution, you dont have to worry about it looking bad when it gets printed.
Im going to walk you through the easy way. Ill be using Photoshop simply because you probably know
someone who has it and wouldnt mind doing this for you. Im sure you can do it with other programs as well.
Note: When people talk about digital signatures they usually arent referring to a scanned version of your
handwriting. Digital electronic signatures are an electronic way to prove that someone signed something
even if the end product is being transmitted through a network where malicious people may try to tamper
with it.
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2. Scan the paper
You probably want to use a high resolution for best results. I wouldnt go below 600 dpi.
3. Crop down to the best signature
You also may need to straighten the image at this point so it is level and will line up with horizontal lines on
paper.
4. Use the magic wand to select the area around the signature
5. Invert the selection and copy
6. Paste the signature into a new document with a transparent
background
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7. Use the magic wand to remove any white still lef t inside letters.
8. Save the image in a format that supports transparent
backgrounds.
Id suggest using PNG. It can be imported into Acrobat, supports transparency, and doesnt have problems
with artifacts like some other formats. You dont want to use JPEG because of the artifact problem.
So what can you use your scanned digital signature for? Here are some suggestions:
Email Signature Im not a big fan of using an image in an email signature, but I know a lot of
people think it gives emails a nice personal touch. If you do decided to use this in your email as an
electronic signature, be sure to send test messages to several email programs to make sure that it
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numbers behind the scene. This is particularly useful if you are sending a document with a digital
signature to someone who may not be particularly technology savvy. They may not understand how
the digital signature works, but they will have a signature that they recognize when they print the
document out.
Signing Faxes This is one of my main uses for a scanned signature. I can receive a fax, sign it and
fax it back without ever printing the document out.
Filed Under: Technology
Tagged With: digital signature, paperless
Comments
Orangerider says
September 26, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Now I remember how I did itscan signature, open with MS Paint, resize then save ascopy and
paste into the relevant document. Simples!
Reply
Henry says
November 6, 2010 at 7:57 pm
How you lled signature on pdf form if its basically picture format? Please, I can do it on docs but
havent able convert to pdf.
Reply
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@Henry See my post on How to Sign with Acrobat. That method works with Acrobat
Professional and is what I use. There may be others as well.
Reply
GreggBuck says
November 9, 2010 at 9:10 am
You need more than the free Acrobat reader. Adobe Acrobat Professional will let you insert
your signature le like you do in docs.
Reply
Kathy Ink says
December 8, 2010 at 3:00 am
Perfect for those who are learning the aspects of good computer management. Your signature is
now recognizable as a legitimate legal document in most instances on line. This means you do not
have to mail hard copy and your online documents are recognized and permitted for your business
needs.
Reply
Kristen says
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I just made mine. The only issue is that you cant use it to rotate your signature. I got around this
by rotating it in microsofts photoviewer after I worked with it on there.
Hope this helps!
Reply
Mike says
January 24, 2011 at 12:12 pm
No no no! Do not do this!
Be aware a scanned signature is NOT an electronic signature nor is it a digital signature. It is not
legally binding and can easily be challenged.
Both electronic and digital signatures (yes there is a difference) both must have and demonstrate
the following properties;
Authentication this Refers to the level of assurance that an asserted identity is accurate, that is
the identity being presented belongs to the individual presenting it. Some level of identity proo ng is
required for authentication.
Authorization does the asserted individual have the authority to take the action? A document
signed by the wrong person has no validity this is also true of electronic signing.
Control of the signature The signors must have sole control of their signature, no other must be
able to use it or have access to it, and this prevents forgery.
Intent to sign the signors intent must be evident in that the action to sign was a willful act, and
was intended.
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Availability the signature bound to the signed object must be able to be recalled at any point in
the future for the useful life span of the document or as required by law.
Non-repudiation this is the concept of ensuring that a party in a dispute cannot refute the
signatures validity.
Now these are relatively broad descriptions but the do apply. Also be aware that you can not just
use an electronic signature as it use is reserved and must be accepted by all parties concerned.
I am tracking the posts via e-mail so if you want to know more just post here and I will respond.
Reply
Mark Shead says
January 25, 2011 at 3:44 pm
If someone faxes me a document, it gets converted to a PDF, sent to my email box and then I
can print it out. I can sign that document, scan it back to a PDF and then send it back to them
using a service on my computer. The document and my signature gets converted a digitized
several times in that process. How is the end result that they receive any different if I print it
out, sign it and shred it than if I just add my signature to it in an electronic way?
If a company accepts a faxed or scanned copy of a signed document, what Im suggesting
isnt really any different. Now if they want an original signed copy, this wont work and as far
as I know an original signed document is still required for doing something like buying a house.
I have seen the terms electronic signature and digital signature used interchangeably. If one
means a photo of a signature and the other means something that is signed with your digital
certi cate, I havent found any consistency in the way they are being used to know which one
is which. I have another post about how digital signatures (things signed with a digital
certi cate) work.
Reply
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A document that has been printed out signed then scanned is something I have done
before. however, I could as the receiver of the document say, How do I know YOU signed
this document?. This also happens on regular documents, How do I know YOU signed
this document? this is where the concept of a witness or a notary comes in. Generally
documents that do not require a high level of authentication do not require a witness or
notary. Electronic signatures have.
No a digital copy of you signature that has been added to you document is a bit more
risky since it can be easily added to any document that does not require a witness or
notary. The risk is on your part. This for does not exhibit any of the positive traits found in
a digital signature or a full binding signature.
I see the terms used interchangeably too. Which is wrong by the way, term electronic
signature is very wide and includes as a subset digital signatures; different type of
electronic signatures yield different levels of trust and non-repudiation.
I type this rather quickly I hope it makes sense, there is more I really should add as this
deceivingly complex. Mike
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Mark Shead says
March 7, 2011 at 11:59 am
How is it any more risky to add an image of your signature to document than to
print it out and sign it? I can copy your signature off a physical document just as
easily (and sometimes more easily) than off a le. Also how is it any more dif cult to
forge copy a fake signature than to copy a fake notary seal?
Most of the time we sign things that are to both parties bene t. So the fact our
signature is on a piece of paper somewhere isnt primary reason both parties
perform their side of the agreement. There are very few contracts where someone is
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Mike says
March 10, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Before I start I should say that when we sign stuff we typically do it to show
evidence that we understand, accept and agree to something our signature hold us
to that a signature is there to bind one or more parties to an agreement and is not
done only because there is mutual bene t, otherwise why would we need the
signature?
Other items you mentioned are addresses in the below text.
Scanned signatures are Signatures that are scanned (electronically copied) and
pasted into documents, they are also some time called digitized signatures, not to
be confused with digital signatures which are a far more sure way of signing. Often
time people make assume they are equivalent under the law and that they are or
can be as binding this is simply not true. Scanned signatures will not hold up under
legal attack as a signature. The following paragraphs detail both Scanned and Wet
signatures.
Scanned Signature
Unfortunately a scanned signature holds the same flaws as does a wet signature
and none of the advantages, no assurance; however the problem is bigger in this
case.
No assurance/ authentication of the signer, anyone can paste the signature on to a
le and claim you signed it. Once you send a le out with your pasted signature it is
easy enough for the recipient to cut and paste the signature one a new document or
other documents. These problems you dont have with wet signature.
With a hand written ink signature (commonly called a wet signature) you have no
assurance of who the signer is, unless you a) know the signer or b) the signer has
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No control there is no way for you to know if the authorized signer is the only one
with access to the scanned signature, and actually once you have set out even one
document with a pasted signature you are no longer in sole control of your
signature.
You cant have a document notarized when using a scanned signature.
You also set a president of behavior that demonstrates that you commonly use
this method of signing (along with its de ciencies) which can be used to legally
attack the validity of you signature.
Scanned signatures do to occur in person which lends to the authentication,
validation, intent, sole control and binding issues that are present with this method.
With these critical elements missing the signature can be questioned very easily and
I assure you that it will be questioned should a dispute arise.
Wet Signatures
Wet Signature exhibits some of the same de ciencies seen in scanned signatures,
except;
They can be notarized, thus eliminating the issues of identity and assurance since
ID us required and is visually veri ed by the notary. The notary can also acts as a
witness and adds his/ her signature and notary seal thus further solidifying the
binding of the individuals signature to a speci c document.
When a document is not notarized an individuals signature is still unique enough,
even though the signature may change slightly from time to time, to be considered
uniquely yours and to some degree demonstrates control and when placed on a
non-notarized document.
You are setting a precedent that you have sole control of your signature at all
times.
Wet signatures still enjoy, in all cases, some level of legal support when used in the
execution of documents.
Wet signatures often occur in the presents of other people who may or may not be
witnesses. When this method is used in private it can suffer many of the same flaws
that a scanned signature.
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document of an important or high value nature require a witness or a notary for this
reason it corrects the problems of a wet signature and provides authentication,
validation, intent, and binds the signature to the document legally. This is an
advantage of a wet signature and this is not possible with a scanned signature.
Problems
Both scanned and wet signatures (to a lesser degree when notarized) are subject to
attack. These attacks are often dif cult or impossible to detect.
Scanned Signature Attack
These attacks usually target the fact that this signature is very transportable and is
not under the sole control of the signer. The act of simply using the cut and paste
feature on all modern operating systems allows the easy reuse of the signature by
anyone without detection.
Wet Signature Attack
A wet signature is a little more dif cult, the attack requires access to the signature
for study and some level of skill/ ability to learn the signature before its use. However
forgery has a long history of success as an attack vector.
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Then doesnt forgery make a wet signature somewhat worse. I mean at least a
scanned signature will be more likely bring to mind the thought of a veri cation
process where as the wet signature will be more likely not. If I receive a binding
document with a scanned signature a will verify. If I receive a document with a wet
signature well my case in point. And doesnt the scanned signature add an audit
element if used with email or faxing. Spoo ng of these can be detected.
Mike says
March 11, 2011 at 10:38 am
Actually no, a wet forgery can be detected, if you know what to look for. A scanned
signature can be placed in any document at any time, there is no way to tell who
pasted the signature into a document. Thats the problems with a pasted signature,
how do you bin and verify that the owner of the scanned signature completed the
action on the given document? Email, faxing scanning are transport mechanisms
and do not pro led tracking, binding or authentication for documents.
If I send you a document right now with a scanned signature pasted into it how
would you know that I (not someone else) pasted that signature into that speci c
document?
lisa hardy says
February 28, 2011 at 8:28 pm
a hospital requires its docs to submit electronic medical charts.
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may each page of the medical chart be initialed to assure the chart has not been changed
subsequent to submitting the chart to the hospital.
thank you Lisa
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Mark Shead says
March 3, 2011 at 8:46 pm
This article deals with getting an image of your signature on a document. It sounds like
you are looking for a way to prove that the entire document hasnt been altered since it
was signed. For that you are going to want to look at a cryptographic digital signature.
Reply
Mike says
March 3, 2011 at 9:26 pm
A Digital signature is what you are after, speci cally a cryptographic digital signature.
Once a document, sound, image or other electronic record is signed in this manner it can
not be changed with out detection, actually in most implmentations change is not
possible. Anyway you would sign he document as a whole, no need to sign each page.
Reply
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You are so right. All I would have to do is use my browser add on called pixlr grabber, right
click on your signature, stretch the outline around it, save to.and its mine. Very simple. I
wouldnt feel safe leaving much with anyone who accepted this as my true signature.
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Steve says
February 7, 2012 at 6:45 pm
I agree with everything you said, except two things.
#1.
No no no! Do not do this!
Why not? It is completely safe with certain things. It really depends on what you are adding
your scanned signature to. For example, I frequently sign away my rights to things. Like
copyright forms when publishing articles in journals. The journal has no reason to ever
challenge my signature, since they want my copyrights. I guess I could claim later that I didnt
really sign the form and Id have to support that statement. Of course, if the journal was
worried about that, they would require an original signature.
#2.
It is not legally binding and can easily be challenged.
The law is complicated. In many situations, contracts with these signatures would be
completely valid. Although challenging such a contract would be possible, I doubt it would be
easy. In most cases, there is a lot of evidence of intent that would go into determining whether
or not someone did in fact accept a contract. I would sign and keep originals of any important
documents, but for minor everyday things, using a scanned signature is a reasonable tradeoff
between convenience and security.
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Steve Good points. I think in many states a legal dispute over a contract will come
down to whether or not there was an agreement. Your signature on a piece of paper
doesnt necessarily mean you signed that piece of paper. Forging has been around for
years.
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sandi says
May 7, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I have tried with all your instructions to create my signature for e signing without any luck
granted I am not exactly a computer guru however, I followed your instructions to the letter any
thoughts? thanks.
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Mark Shead says
May 8, 2011 at 4:45 pm
What step is causing you problems?
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Sometimes it is not just about can I do it, its about should and I do it and/ or how. Without the
proper software and/ or governance around the cutting and pasting of an actual signature this
practice is dangerous. Nowadays, there are many software products designed to control, monitor
and authenticate the application of applying the facsimile of a persons signature. Many are not
expensive either.
If I cut and paste an image of someones signature to an e-document its the same as a signing the
hardcopy document with their name, yes? It is if you consider it, and use it like a real digital or
e-signature is applied.
If it is done without the proper protocols and procedures it could get a business person in hot water
in a audit. If someone else does it for you it could be construed as forging a persons signature; the
same as it would be if you forged another persons signature on a paper document by hand. Being
in the cyber world does not change that, a fake is a fake; it only makes it easier to do, and on a
larger scale.
I would recommend that you at the least, have a clear policy established and procedures
documented as to how and when you do this or if and when someone else has been granted
authority to do this for you. Often times in the cyber world it is the process and protocols around
the function that provide the credibility and will give you the preverbal, legal leg to stand on.
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Aman Talwar says
July 11, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Nice post Mark. I have to try it out at home. I have been looking for something like this for a while.
Cheers.
Reply
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There is a lot of good discussion and points here. But what I havent found is that
I also understand a fax is now considered a legal document, just like originals.
If that is correct, then how it is done / proven that the fax was actually signed
as intended, and there is no possibility of it being fake ?
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Lynne Taetzsch says
January 6, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Thanks so much for the great, easy-to-use advice. It worked perfectly the rst time. Id never used
the magic wand feature on Photoshop before. Fantastic!
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Mohin Benning says
January 18, 2012 at 10:35 am
Hi Mark,
I used you instructions on http:/ / www.productivity501.com to create a digital copy of my
signature, which had been scanned and edited using Paint Brush.
My process is working ne, where I can insert this png le into a word document and then pass
onto another colleague for thme to add their signature le and then email, without having to print,
sign, scan and then email.
Problem is that my colleague is able to copy my signature image during the process they are
adding their signature le ?
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Regards,
Mohin.
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Mark Shead says
January 30, 2012 at 1:28 pm
You might look at using Acrobat or some other service to actually sign the document with a
digital signature. I dont think there is really a way around your issue. Of course they could just
scan in your signature from a physical document and do the same thing.
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Walt Ribeiro says
January 24, 2012 at 11:54 am
worked perfectly, thanks!
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Gregg Buchanan says
January 31, 2012 at 9:47 am
Actually there is a way in MS word to protect a picture added signature. This is done by creating a
section using a before and after continuous break then restricting editing in this section. If your
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does the section protection get enforced.
Here is the documented procedure: http:/ / projectwoman.com/ 2009/ 03/ protect-part-of-a-word-
document.html.
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Mark Shead says
January 31, 2012 at 11:15 am
Are you sure that keeps them from being able to copy the signature out to put it somewhere
else? At the very least they could screenshot it.
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Gregg Buchanan says
February 1, 2012 at 7:49 am
Yes, This procedure will prevent anyone from performing any editing function on the
signature within the document.
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michael whiting says
October 13, 2012 at 3:59 pm
I dont think that adding an signature image to a document is considered a legitimate signature in
the eyes of the court. How do you prove non-repudiation when anyone can copy your signature
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Amanda says
December 4, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Ive managed to paste this onto a transparent new document, but how do I remove the rest of the
white space using the magic wand?
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Motivational Keynote Speaker says
September 27, 2013 at 12:48 am
Thanks Mark, I will be trying it out. Ill be using Gimp though.
Reply
David says
April 21, 2014 at 4:27 pm
Ive read through all of these posts and it has been interesting, with decent remarks on both sides
for the most part.
The point of this exercise in the rst place is to facilitate the pushing of papers in my mind. I often
nd myself out and about in the world with someone waiting for my signature. Without a
microscope and the need for one, I seriously doubt it would be easy for someone to gure out that I
was superimposing what is effectively a bitmap of my signature, over an even lower resolution in
my cases pdf.
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and import my .png version of my signature.
The point Im making is that my version of this tutorial works PERFECTLY for my purposes and
nobody would ever question the validity of the signature Im sending back. I have no intent to
defraud. My intent is expediency and I dont think any FBI forensics labs will be peeling apart the
encoding layers of my return PDFs for something I would readily admit that I signed. Im not even
certain that a PDF has a history of layers. Im pretty certain that an encapsulated postscript le
(PDF) is just a record of dots and where those dots are supposed to be on the page. I could be
wrong.
Now, I have one caveatIm only using this for a single signature. I personally would never use
this to sign multiple times to the same person as my signature would be dot-for-dot identical. I am
literally expecting that whoever receives my document believes that I simply wet ink signed it.
I routinely change my scanned signature so that its never exactly the same on my signing app.
Your mileage may vary. Its easy to accomplish this for me.
Set aside all of the legal mumbo jumbo for a moment for those of us functioning in the real world.
1) people will appreciate your ef ciency with returning a signature quickly. 2) if anyone ever asks
just tell them what you didno intent to defraud.
This is just my take on it as a person who actually on occasion will nd the need to function
completely in electrons. Nobody is the wiser.
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wendy says
June 18, 2011 at 4:13 am
Can a signature be reduced and superimposed onto another document in the event of making a
legal document but not actually signed initially. We have a plan with signatures on and they are tiny
as opposed the plan. This has caused concern as these signatures are so small that it would be
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Mark Shead says
June 18, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Im not sure exactly what you are asking, but if there is a question about whether or not someone
signed something, call the person up and ask them if they signed it.
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Mike says
April 2, 2012 at 10:28 pm
Im back, been really busy OK so I see many folks are still Digitizing signatures, unwary of the
possible risks involved. Please read through these many comments, I have posted a good bit of
information regarding this subject.
I would ad this should you decide to use a Digitized Signature NOT do use it in any document that
you may run the risk of a dispute or that otherwise requires a high level of non-repudiation. It is a
risky proposition at best and offers less security than a wet-signature.
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Zach says
October 8, 2012 at 9:49 pm
It is much more risky for a party to accept a document with a digitized signature than it is for a
person to suffer harm due to the misuse of their digitized signature.
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Older Comments
purported signer.
Physical signatures have long been held sacred, so I understand why youre invested in freaking out
about this issue. But you dont need to and nobody else does either. I mean, whats going to
happen? Somebody will paste the image of your signature onto a stolen check in order to cash it?
Forgers do not need to go to such lengths, and they never have.
Reply
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December 20, 2007 at 4:12 am
[...] an image le and use it as a stamp as well. If you follow the instructions from our post about how to
create a scanned signature, youll nd it imports nicely. The transparent background lets you sign on a line
without [...]
20 Tips to Save Money on a Home Of ce : Productivity501 says:
April 21, 2008 at 7:34 am
[...] you probably wont need to print out every incoming fax. If setup correctly you can even sign faxes and
send them back without ever needing to leave the digital [...]
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Electronic Signature From Your Scanned Digital Signature http://www.productivity501.com/how-to-create-a-scanned-signature/357/
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Scanned Signatures and Handwriting : Productivity501 says:
July 4, 2009 at 11:25 am
[...] weve looked at how to create a scanned signature that you can use to sign documents without printing
them out. Today we are going to look at how to [...]
Dealing with Signatures and Email : Productivity501 says:
October 9, 2009 at 1:50 pm
[...] an insurance company needed my signature, they sent me a TIFF le. I used my scanned signature,
added it to the TIFF and sent it back. They said they couldnt accept that because it came [...]
Using a Digital Signature? : Productivity501 says:
October 27, 2009 at 9:05 am
[...] curious how many readers are using digital signatures. If you use a digital signature, please take a
moment to leave a comment letting me know what you [...]
Questions and Answers | Productivity501 says:
March 23, 2011 at 10:47 am
[...] want.How can I make an electronic signature?You need to understand how digital signatures work. A
scanned signature is simply an image of your signatures on a transparent background that can be added to
documents. [...]
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